Dawn After Dark
by Larcian
Summary: Dawn was raised in the Fire Nation as a princess. She doesn't remember anything from before she was six, and all she has is a necklace and a bracelet. Her nightmares get worse and worse, but will they help lead her to her real family?
1. Chapter 1

_Hey! It's another story! :D_

**Chapter One**

_Snow. Black Snow. It was everywhere_. _There was a lot of running around. People were screaming unintelligible words. Someone pushed the girl, urging her to run. She tried to run as fast as her legs could carry her, but it felt like the snow was pulling her down. The black flurries kept flying faster until the bright snow was submerged in a sea of black. Her movements were now hugely delayed, as the black was up to her waist. She felt her legs go numb. Every step was harder to take. The cold was chilling her to the bone. Defeated, she fell to her hands and knees and let the sea of black swallow her._

Dawn gasped for air as she sat up in her bed. She was covered in sweat. Pulling off the covers, she hopped out of bed and walked the short distance to her mirror.

Her hair was sticking out in all directions, and her eyes were dull. _I need to get some fresh air_, she thought. She noiselessly opened her door and made her way to the deck of the ship.

It was a full moon. She grabbed the railing and leaned her head back to bask in the moonlight. The moon always made her feel better; more assured. She slowly closed her eyes. She could feel the ship rock back and forth. The night air was humid. As she opened her eyes again, she wondered what time it was. Dawn looked at the moon as if she were expecting an answer to her unspoken question. When she received no answer, she sighed and looked at the leather bracelet that rested on her right wrist. As she twisted it, she pondered about its origin. She had a matching necklace to go with it. Both were definitely made by a child, but whether she or someone else crafted them, she didn't know. The memories of her previous lifestyle, before living in the Fire Nation, were fuzzy. She couldn't remember voices, faces, or places. Her bracelet and necklace was all she had left of where she once lived.

Dawn waited until the sun was just peeking out over the horizon before she bid a silent farewell to the moon and descended below the deck to her bed once more.

"Good morning, Uncle Iroh. Good morning, Zuko," Dawn yawned. She sat down and poured herself a cup of tea.

"Good morning, Dawn. How did you sleep last night?" Iroh asked her.

"I slept well, thank you. And-"

"That's a lie," Zuko snorted. "She was keeping me up all night with her nightmares." Dawn glared at the prince before continuing her conversation with Iroh.

For the past three years, Zuko had been distant. Before his banishment, he and Dawn were the best of friends. They still were, sometimes, when they started talking about the good old days, but other than that, Zuko kept to himself. It was always Avatar this and Avatar that, and regaining his honor. For the past week, they have been heading toward the South Pole. The landscape was nothing but ice. Dawn was quickly getting bored of it. Even watching Zuko do the beginners' firebending set was tedious.

There was finally some excitement when a bright blue light appeared in the sky. Zuko ordered the captain to set a course for the light. That was all the excitement that happened for a while. A few hours later, Zuko spotted the Avatar in his telescope and he disappeared below deck to prepare for battle. Dawn stayed above deck, practicing hand-to-hand combat with a few of the crewmembers before she, too, disappeared to prepare.

She carefully ran a finger over her bows. Yu Yan archers handcrafted all seven. After selecting her favorite- a lightweight, silver bow- she dressed up in a red, sleeveless shirt that stopped mid-thigh. Her pants were black and easy to move in. On her feet was a pair of sturdy boots, and she wore a warm jacket with the hood pulled up. She unbraided her long hair and let it sit on her shoulders in pigtails. Ready, she went to the hull of the ship.

Zuko looked... funny. He was confident. As he stepped out, with Dawn following two steps behind, a boy in war paint tried to attack. Dawn raised her bow to strike him down, but Zuko shook his head and simply threw the boy to the side.

Dawn glared at Zuko as she lowered her bow, wondering why he didn't let her shoot the boy. It would have been a painless death… Well, for the most part, anyway. She surveyed the villagers below. It was practically all women, most of the looking like they were in their mid thirties to early forties.

As Zuko spoke to the crowd, she paced back and forth in the snow. Her bow was ready to shoot in a second if anyone in the crowd tried to attack. The boy had tried to attack them a few more times, but Zuko would only allow her to punch him. He had thrown a boomerang, which eventually came back and hit Zuko in the head. She smiled a bit as Zuko groaned, but then she went back to her stolid expression.

She sensed a noise to her right, and turned in time to see a boy riding a penguin through the snow. He was coming straight at her and Zuko. There was no time to react and, before she knew it, she was thrown into a pile of snow. Dawn got up slowly. Her right arm was throbbing with pain from where she landed on it. She couldn't move it that well. Every small movement sent little stabs of pains shooting up and down her arm. It might have been broken or was just landed on the wrong way, but there was no way of knowing right now. Dawn pulled off her jacket and was met with biting cold. She made a temporary sling out of the jacket, using the ties in her hair to support it. Her thick hair flowed down to her waist, ending in slight curls.

She wished she were a firebender like Zuko. Then the heat wouldn't bother her as much. Dawn picked up her fallen bow and put it and the quiver over her left shoulder.

"Dawn, let's go!" Zuko called to her. He had the Avatar, the little boy on the penguin who ran her over. Dawn walked over to the ship. As she did, she could feel the stares of the villagers behind her boring into her back. She turned around to see some of the villagers staring at her in awe, most in confusion. There was an old woman in the front, whose eyes gave a hint of a knowing smile. Dawn turned around, only to run into Zuko.

"Watch where you're going, stupid," he muttered.

"Whatever," she said to him.

After having her arm examined by the ship doctor, thanking Agni that is was only badly sprained; Dawn walked onto the deck and leaned on the railing with her good arm, looking at the clouds in the sky. She jumped when a voice spoke right next to her.

"We're going home." She turned her head to see Zuko standing next to her, staring out into the horizon. Dawn smiled and turned back to the sky.

"Yeah," she agreed. They shared a silent moment together before a crewmember came up.

"Prince Zuko, Princess Dawn, the Avatar is resisting capture," the man said. He looked at them both, wondering which one would go below deck and recapture the boy. Zuko nudged Dawn, and she nudged him back. When he crossed his arms and gave her a look, she only pointed to her sprained arm and put her hands on her hips, giving him a look that said, "Try me." He stalked off with the crewmember, muttering about how hard could it be to keep a small kid under control.

**_R&R please!_**


	2. Chapter 2

_-Is confused-_

__

Two chapters in two days?

_Blasphemy, I say._

_Enjoy!_

_And review!  
_

_I do not own Avatar. I own Dawn. That's it... And-_

__

Zuko: Don't say it.

_DAMN! _

**Chapter Two**

Dawn and Zuko stood apart from each other. Each was clearly ignoring the other- Dawn with her arms crossed and Zuko scowling. Iroh tried to calm the two down, but it was useless.

"I still can't believe you let him get away," Zuko muttered. Dawn turned around, her eyes raging.

"If I remember correctly," she growled, taking steps toward him, "it was _you_ who let him get away." Her left index finger landed on his chest. "I can't control what _you_ do, Zuko!"

"You could have shot him with one of your arrows!" Dawn glared at him and waved her right forearm in front of his face.

"Does it honestly look like I can shoot anything? Don't even get started on physical strength; I don't work well with one arm." Dawn crossed her arms again and stalked off. The boat was rocking wildly. Some crewmembers had to hold on to the sides of the ship before they toppled over.

Dawn sat on her bed, glaring at the wall across from her. Her feet aimlessly swayed back and forth. She kicked off her shoes and lied on the bed, closing her eyes and trying to imagine happy things…

**-Kana-**

Kana watched as the girl paced back and forth, her bow and arrows in hand. The only thing that could be seen of the girl was her mouth, tightly pressed into a thin line, and the tip of her dark braid.

Suddenly, the Avatar came whizzing past on a penguin, knocking the two Fire Nation children to the ground. The two got up groggily. As the boy continued talking, the girl slowly pulled off her jacket and winced as she was met with the biting cold.

Kana gasped to herself as she saw the face of the girl. An almost exact replica of her granddaughter, Katara. There was only one other person in the world that could look that close to Katara without being Kya, and that person was thought to be dead ever since a Fire Nation raid about eight years ago.

Most people in the tribe shut out the horrible events of that horrible day, which took the life of her daughter. Others, the children, most likely couldn't remember because they were too young to comprehend. Only two losses were mourned that day:

The loss of Kya.

And the loss of her other granddaughter, Dawn.

Kya had died for sure, but no one had been sure about Dawn. She had gone missing. There was no corpse to confirm her death, and she wasn't a pronounced waterbender, so there was no reason for the raiders to take her. It was concluded that she somehow lost herself in the snowy wilderness, couldn't get back, and perished.

But here she was, standing before the tribe, glaring at all of them with hatred. Looking exactly like her sister, yet so different.

Kana is not sure what she would rather prefer:

Finding the skeletal remains of Dawn.

Knowing that she was safe.

Or:

Knowing that she was safe.

But only to find out that she was in the hands of the enemy, trained to hate her own family without even knowing it.


	3. Chapter 3

_Oh boy, I felt like writing this, so I did. It's summer vacay now, so writing time has suddenly opened up big time. I can stay up late, like I am now! I'm not sure what story I want to write next... Soo I'm going to let you guys decide from: Sixteen Years, Dawn After Dark, Turnabout Gwen, Faults and Memories, Memory Maker. Put your list of preferences, number 1 being your "WRITE IT NAO!" story and number 5 being your "Write soon, please!" story._

_Hugs and kisses,_

_~Larcian~ _

**Chapter Three**

Dawn, Zuko, and Iroh stepped out into the shipyard. Fire Nation men wandered around, making repairs to other ships and transporting goods in and out.

"Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. We can't lose _his_ trail," Zuko said quietly as he glared at people who loomed too near to the three.

"You mean the Avatar?" Iroh asked a bit too loudly for Zuko's tastes. His nephew glared at Iroh and Dawn sighed at her uncle's mistake. As Zuko reprimanded Iroh, Dawn looked forward. She saw a man walking toward the three. As he came closer, she recognized him as someone she and Zuko despised.

"Zuko…" she whispered quietly and tugged on his sleeve. He shrugged her off. She pulled on his sleeve again, this time more persistently.

"And I don't want anyone getting in the way," Zuko said as he turned to glare at Dawn. She opened her mouth to speak of the oncoming problem, but it was too late.

"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" Zhao said. He stopped in front of them, assessing their behavior carefully.

"Captain Zhao," Zuko said disdainfully.

"Commander," Zhao smirked. He turned to face Dawn. "Princess," he nodded. Dawn kept her face placid, not giving any indication that she acknowledged Zhao. Iroh and Zhao talked for a bit before the Commander turned his attention to the state of disrepair the ship was in.

"That's quite a bit of damage," he commented.

"Yes… you wouldn't believe what happened. Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened." Iroh gave a surprised look on his face, blinked once, and then cleared his throat.

"Yes, it was incredible…" Iroh turned to Dawn and whispered to her, "What… did we crash or something?"

"Right into an Earth Kingdom ship," Dawn deadpanned.

Zhao raised an eyebrow. "You must tell me all the thrilling details. Join me for a drink?" His face closed in on Zuko's.

"Sorry, but we have to go." Zuko turned to leave, and Dawn backed up, but their uncle stopped them.

"Zuko, Dawn, show Commander Zhao your respect." Both siblings groaned in frustration and reluctantly followed behind their uncle, who managed to catch Zhao in a conversation about tea.

"So how is your search for the Avatar going?" Zhao asked as he stood in front of the chairs that Zuko and Dawn now occupied. Iroh was walking around, examining the weapons.

Zuko tensed up ever so slightly, a small movement that could only be seen if someone was looking for it. Dawn's eyes flickered from Zuko to Zhao, who had just erased a small smirk from his face.

Zhao laughed. "Did you really expect to? The Avatar died a hundred years ago along with the rest of the airbenders…. Unless… you found some evidence that the Avatar is alive?"

"No," Dawn said a second too quickly. Zhao looked at her and gave a slight raise of his brow. "Nothing," she mumbled, looking away from his piercing gaze.

"We should check on ship repairs," Zuko said, rising from his seat. Dawn gave an inward sigh of relief and rose as well. As they neared the exit, guards blocked the way. They related to Zhao what the crew of Zuko's ship had said about the Avatar. After the report, Zhao turned to the two teens, grinning.

"How exactly was your ship damaged?"

"I told you, Zhao, it was an Earth Kingdom ship," Dawn growled at the same time Iroh told a contradicting story- the truth. Zhao listened in earnest before laughing.

"It seems like this job is too big for two teenagers and a retired general to handle. I'll just take over for you." To the guards, Zhao said, "Keep them here," as he turned to leave.

Soon after, Dawn sat back in her seat as she watched Zuko erupt into anger.

It was a boring wait, with Iroh drinking tea and commenting on the highly detail maps, and Zuko sulking in his chair. Dawn herself was on the verge of a nice nap when Zhao came back in. She continued to slightly doze as she heard the Commander and her brother argue back and forth.

"Maybe you'd like one to match!" Zuko yelled. Dawn's eyes flew open to see Zuko inches from Zhao's face, the latter with a winning smile.

"Is that a challenge?" Zhao asked calmly. This only proceeded to anger Zuko more.

"An agni kai. At sunset." After Zhao left, it was silent in the tent.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Dawn asked quietly. The response was a death glare. Zuko was acting rashly, and he knew she knew that. She closed her eyes again, still feeling Zuko's glare upon her.

_Let's hope he doesn't botch it up like the last one…_ She remembered the fateful day so well. Zuko's refusal to fight, Fire Lord Ozai defacing his son's face, the look of glee on Azula's face, Iroh's look of worry, her stupid attempt to make sure Zuko was okay- It was all stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Dawn, wake up. It is almost sunset." Iroh shook his niece lightly as her eyes fluttered open, one hand clasping the necklace she always wore. She gave a yawn and then jumped up.

Guards escorted the trio to an arena where Zhao waited. After promising to fight fairly and with honor, the two opponents went to opposite sides of the arena. The gong rang and the small crowd was waiting in anticipation to see who would strike first.

It was Zuko who moved first, his shot making contact with nothing as it flew past Zhao and dissolved. He shot again, each time more reckless than the last. Finally, Zhao had a chance to strike at Zuko, slowly forcing the banished Prince back. Eventually Zuko was trapped on the ground, Zhao looming over him.

Suddenly, the roles were reversed, with Zuko looming over Zhao, fist held at ready to shoot fire.

"Do it!" Zhao yelled. Zuko suddenly moved his hand slightly to the right and shot the fire, missing Zhao by an inch.

"That's it?" Zhao taunted. "Your father raised a coward."

As he walked away, Zuko said, "Next time you get in my way, I promise I won't hold back." Dawn smiled.

Past Zuko's shoulder, she could see Zhao's face darken as a sinister look crossed it. He ran toward Zuko to make a dishonorable strike.

"Zu-" She only got half the warning out before Iroh shot forward and defended Zuko. The retired general pushed the commander on the ground.

"Even in exile my nephew is more honorable than you." Iroh turned to walk away. "Thanks again for the tea. It was delicious." Zuko and Iroh walked toward the exit with Dawn eventually falling into step with them, giving Zuko a proud smile. He gave a slight smile back.

"Did you really mean that, Uncle?" Zuko asked quietly.

"Of course," Iroh smirked, "I told you ginseng is my favorite." Dawn stifled a giggle and the trio continued to walk toward the repaired ship.


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm sorry this took so long to get out! I had a bit of trouble writing this chapter, but I hope you like it! I apologize for any grammar and/or spelling errors._

**Chapter Four**

It was nighttime, a new moon, and stars filled every stretch of the sky. Though she'd always loved looking at the stars, Dawn felt irritable and miserable when she tried looking at them tonight, so she'd retreated to her room to try and get some rest.

It had been pretty nice, too, until she heard Zuko's shout of, "WHAT?" from down the hall. She sat bolt upright in bed and quickly tied a sleeping robe around her as she ran down the hall toward Zuko's room. She didn't even bother knocking as she opened the door. Zuko didn't even look up from the map he had his eyes glued on. A scowl rested on his face as he clenched his fists, the map in hand. Dawn was afraid that Zuko would burn the parchment and rested a hand on his shoulder. He briefly glanced up at her before turning his attention back to the map.

"Nice hair," he muttered. That deserved him a slap to the head with her good hand- once for the comment and a second time for waking her up. The ship doctor had said that the sling could come off sometime next week. Dawn was looking forward to it.

"What's this?" she asked as she resisted the urge to retort with "nice scar" and took the map from Zuko's hands. It was just a bunch of circles and lines.

"The _crew_," Dawn felt that Zuko had wanted to add a word before crew, "can't find the Avatar."

"And?" She handed the map back. "He can't be that hard to find. He's on top of a freakishly huge flying animal." That earned her a glare from Zuko. She shrugged.

"He is clearly a master of evasive maneuvering." But Dawn didn't even respond. She slammed the door behind her and went back to sleep.

A few days later, the three were sitting in the private dining hall available only for them. Zuko didn't like sitting amongst the rowdiness of his crew and preferred the silence in this cabin. Iroh didn't seem to care either way and Dawn suspected that he would rather be with the crew. Dawn didn't like some of the stares Zuko's crewmembers gave her, even though she could easily throw them off any _dirty_ thoughts they were thinking by giving them a black eye or simply mentioning it to her uncle. She would rather not cause trouble, though.

As the cook placed tonight's dinner- fish- on the table, he muttered something in Zuko's ear. Suddenly, her brother's eyes were ablaze and he stood up quickly.

"The Avatar's on Kyoshi Island?" He walked away from his food; not one bite was taken out of it. "Uncle, ready the rhinos. He's not getting away from me this time." Zuko walked to the exit, ready to shut the door when Uncle Iroh, who had been looking at Zuko's food longingly, pointed to it and said:

"Are you going to finish that?" Suddenly Zuko went rigid, he turned around, an annoyed grimace on his face, and snatched the plate of food away just as his uncle was about to reach for it.

"I was going to save it for later!" Zuko hissed in Iroh's face before stalking off again. Iroh looked disappointed, so Dawn pushed her already half-eaten fish over to him and his face lit up eagerly. She gave a small smile and shook her head at her uncle. He would always be the same, loveable old man no matter what.

In an hour, Dawn was walking up to where they would be coming off the ship on the rhinos. She had braided her long hair down her back and changed into clothes that were more suitable for fighting. Her bow wasn't at her side as it normally was, but a collection of knives hung from her belt, one knife was hidden in each of her boots, and she had quite a few up her sleeves.

She walked silently, keeping her face expressionless as she ignored the catcalls some of the men were giving her. As she walked up to the front, where Zuko's rhino was, she asked, "Where's my rhino?"

"You're not going," Zuko said. She gave him a glare of annoyance.

"What do you mean?" Her eyes narrowed until they were tiny slits.

"What do you mean?" He mocked her. "I _mean_ that you're going to be useless on this mission, so there's no point in going. I can capture the Avatar on my own."' Dawn rolled her eyes.

"You sure managed to do that just fine the last time you 'captured' him." It was Zuko's turn to glare at her.

"Fine you can go," he finally decided. She let a small smile appear on her face. She turned to order one of the remaining crewmembers to get her a rhino, when Zuko added something.

"If you can get on my rhino without any help." She stopped in her tracks and turned around to glare at the sly grin she'd like to wipe off his face. "Hurry, we're about to leave." The bowsprit of the ship was opening rapidly, and she knew that as soon as that touched the ground, the rhinos would be on the move toward Kyoshi. Uncle Iroh wasn't even going, so it's not like she had time to run and complain that Zuko was being unfair. Besides, that was childlike and stupid.

Dawn had to admit that she couldn't think of anything as the rhinos started their descent to the ground. In fact, she was just about to walk on foot until she saw a sliver of hope as Zuko's rhino made its way down. She backed up two steps before rushing forward and jumping a three-foot gap to Zuko's rhino. She landed hard and painfully on her butt with an _oof!_ and grabbed onto Zuko's arm tightly with her good hand as she struggled to keep balance on the surprised rhino. When she had finally steadied herself, she released him from her death grip and got her mouth as close to his ear as possible. "Ha," she whispered. He didn't turn around. Victory short-lived, she looked to her left, where the waves were crashing over the rocks. She could swear that she had seen movement further back in the little alcove, but she wasn't positive and didn't want to delay the search party. She would be booted off the mission for sure.

"I want the Avatar alive," Zuko said as the rhinos hit land.

The town was silent as they entered it. A slight wind blew stray strands of hair into her face and she brushed them away as her eyes searched for anything odd in the deserted-looking town.

"Come out, Avatar, you can't hide from me forever!" _Well technically he hid from the world for one hundred and twelve years…. I'm sure he's a great hide and seek player._ That's what Dawn wanted to say, but it would only result in her going back to the ship, so she rubbed her worn bracelet between her thumb and forefinger and kept quiet. As they continued down the forlorn road, a mass of green surrounded them, and warriors started to attack with… fans?

One of the warriors rushed toward the rhino she and Zuko were riding. She jumped, but the rhino merely swatted her with his tail like she was a spider-fly. When she landed on the ground, her brother shot a fire blast at her, but a blur of blue stepped in front of the warrior and managed to redirect the powerful blast back to Zuko, who fell off the rhino.

Spooked, the rhino reared and started to run forward. Dawn screamed and leaned forward to grab a hold of the abandoned reins and held on for dear life.

"Someone catch that rhino!" She heard Zuko yell. Dawn forced herself to open her eyes and assess her situation. She pulled back on the reins to make the rhino stop, but the stupid animal resisted and went faster. Jumping would result in broken limbs. The best she could do was hold on tight and keep her eyes shut.

After a few minutes, the rhino started to slow as a strong wind blew. Still holding on tightly to the reins, Dawn opened her eyes when the wind stopped. Standing in front of her was the Avatar, with a confused expression on his face. After a moment's hesitation, she took a knife from her belt and flicked it at him. The knife spun quickly and would have wounded the Avatar if he hadn't had moved and made the attack miss completely. The knife stuck in the ground.

She narrowed her blue eyes at him and slid off the rhino. "Surrender now, Avatar," she said.

"Aang!" a girl's voice called and ran up to the Avatar. Dawn blinked a few times to make sure see was seeing correctly as she realized she was staring at herself. The Avatar must have been confused as well, because he looked back and forth between the two girls, trying to figure out what was going on.

Zuko ran up to the three of them, shooting fire at the Avatar, only stopping to do a double take at the Water Tribe girl in front of him. No one had really noticed it before now, but there was no doubt that Dawn and the other girl looked extremely similar, as if they could be twins.

"SNEAK ATTACK! HAAAAAAAH!" a cracking voice yelled from behind. Dawn turned around and launched a knife at the person. The knife hit its mark and embedded itself in his shoulder. The two Fire Nation nobles, and the Avatar and the waterbender stared at one another in silence as the guy groaned on the ground behind them.

"Nice try, Avatar!" Zuko finally said. "But these little girls can't save you." He launched forward and caught the Avatar in a fight. Concerned, the Water Tribe girl glanced back and forth between the battle and Dawn. She didn't want the Avatar to get hurt, but she didn't trust the remaining Fire Nation girl with her brother.

Before Dawn knew what had happened, her feet were frozen to the ground. She let out a shout of protest as the Water Tribe girl ran toward the battle-, which Zuko had, of course, lost-; shouting over her shoulder, "Watch her, Sokka!" The guy on the ground slowly got up and looked at Dawn.

"… Katara, why did you freeze yourself to the ground?" Dawn was about to reply with a retort, but she thought about the advantage this situation could bring.

"Oh, you know me," she said, trying to pitch her voice higher and sound like Katara. "Me and my silly spirit magic. Care to help?" Stupidly, Sokka helped break the encasing of ice around her feet, and as soon as she could move freely, she hit him in the back of the head and he fell to the ground. "Idiot," she mumbled as she grabbed the reigns of the rhino and walked off to find Zuko. She heard a shout for Sokka behind her, but she ignored it as she left.

She found Zuko a few minutes later. "Back to the ship!" he ordered the surrounding men. "Don't lose sight of them!" He pointed in the air to the Avatar's flying animal. Without a second glance at her, he hopped on the rhino and moved away without her on. Dawn growled and kept pace with the beasts as they quickly made their way back to the ship.

However, a few seconds later a waterfall of water crashed on the whole town, soaking Dawn and the rest of the Fire Nation natives to the bone. She heard Zuko cursing and barking orders as they retreated to the ship.

"I assume you didn't get the Avatar?" Iroh asked as a sopping wet Zuko stormed past him. Iroh glanced at Dawn. "What? I only asked a question…" Dawn smiled and hugged him even though she was also soaking wet.

"Good night, Uncle Iroh," she said before retreating to her room.

**~Larcian**


	5. Chapter 5

_Oh, wow, guys. I'm sorry this chapter took so long to write up and get out! But it's 2,333 words of awesome on five pages of word document, so I hope you enjoy!__ (Also, the format is a bit weird on this for some reason, so I apologize for any problems.)_**  
**

**Chapter Five**

"Where's Uncle?" Dawn glared up at Zuko before turning her attention back to the scrolls in front of her.

"Hasn't anyone ever taught you to knock?" she asked. "I could have been changing."

"But you're not. _Where__'__s. __Uncle_." He leaned in her face, snatching the scrolls out of her hands.

"I don't know, somewhere?" She put her hand on his face and pushed him away. "Can you not get in my face? You're screwing up my breathing air." Zuko punched the wall in frustration, flames snaking out from his fist.

"Can you chill?" Dawn got up and redid her hair at the mirror. "He's off-board somewhere, I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"I want to leave _now_!" He turned around to face her, getting close to her face again. She stopped doing her hair for a moment to push his face away again.

"So about the Avatar and his friends…" she started, but Zuko let out a frustrated groan and stormed out of the room. His footsteps became quieter and soon she couldn't hear them anymore. Dawn went back to her bed and sat down. Why did she and that Water Tribe girl Katara look so much like her? Was it coincidence? Did Agni get bored and lazy with his creations and stopped making unique people?

In any case, it was going to be useful later on to fool the Avatar and his friends. She would have to talk to Zuko about some plans later after he cooled down.

Speak of the drama queen himself, he came back about fifteen minutes later, muttering something about "not needing to see that" as he slammed the door to his room. She went to the hallway and knocked on his door.

"Don't come in," he said, but she entered anyway. "Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Yes, but I'm choosing to ignore it. Did you find Uncle?" Zuko's faced flashed a bit of shock.

"Yes…" he muttered under his breath. His face started to turn red. "He'll be back in thirty minutes…"

"Any leads on the Avatar's whereabouts?" She leaned against the wall.

"No." By now, Zuko was sitting cross-legged on his bed, his eyes closed, and palms up. "Now go away, I'm meditating."

"I know a way to get him next time." Zuko opened one of his eyes. Silence.

"I'm listening," he said.

"I look similar to that Water Tribe peasant, right? Almost identical?"

"Yes…"

"We find the right time to kidnap her when no one is looking and she and I will switch places. Eventually I can capture the Avatar and bring him back. We'll bring the Water Tribe peasants as well for assisting the Avatar. We get to go home. Sounds like a good plan, right?" Zuko was silent. Dawn shifted her weight to her other leg as she waited for his answer.

"Next chance we get," he finally answered. Dawn let a smirk cross her face. "Go do whatever you need to do. We set sail in fifteen minutes."

Dawn hurried after Zuko as he stormed down the forest path, a few soldiers in tow. They were in search of Iroh.

They had pulled out from the harbor and sailed for five minutes before they realized that Iroh was not on board. In a rage, Zuko ordered one of the smaller boats they kept on the ship into the water, and he, Dawn and a few others got in and sailed to shore. They'd been searching for fifteen minutes and they still haven't found the retired general.

Finally, they came across a clearing. "Uncle! Uncle, where are you?" Zuko shouted. Silence. Dawn started to search the ground for footsteps, a clue- anything.

"Erm, sir?" said one of the younger soldiers aboard the ship. "Maybe he thought you left without him?"

"No," Dawn snapped, standing from her spot on the ground, "something's not right here…" She saw Zuko's eyes survey the area before landing on a peculiar rock formation.

"That's pile of rocks." He pointed to them and they all got closer to examine the formation.

"It looks like there's been a landslide, sir," said the soldier. Dawn wanted to laugh at him. What an idiot…

"Land doesn't slide uphill," the Prince growled. "Those rocks didn't move naturally. Our uncle's been kidnapped by earth benders!" Dawn groaned, the soldiers murmured words under their breaths. "Dawn, go back to the ship and have it sail back here. Act like everything's normal." Zuko whipped around to face the soldiers. "And if you tell anyone otherwise, I'll personally make sure that you are never hired in any Fire Nation job ever again." Zuko walked down the path.

"What do you want me to do once the ship is back here?" Dawn called after him.

"Stay on it." Dawn crossed her arms in indignation and huffed. However, she didn't voice her opinions because she knew it would be fruitless this time.

"Let's go!" Dawn barked at the soldiers, and she stalked back to the tiny boat waiting on the shore.

-The next day-

"You do realize that this is so incredibly stupid and dangerous, right?" Dawn asked as she leaned on the rail and looked at Zuko. The ship was sailing incredibly fast, following the Avatar's bison.

"Father will understand," he said tensely, keeping his eyes on the bison the whole time.

"Oh yes, because he certainly understood when he burnt half of your face." Zuko ignored her and instead turned to the catapult behind them.

"On my mark… Fire!" The ball of fire soared through the air toward the Avatar's bison. It looked like it was going to be a direct hit until the bison swerved just in time. Zuko let out a cry of frustration. He turned to her.

"Can't you shoot an arrow?" She shook her head.

"My arrows won't shoot that high up," she said. The sling had finally come off this morning, and while she was eager to practice with her bow again, she wasn't going to waste her arrows on something stupid like this.

"Again!" he shouted at the guards. They prepared another fireball Dawn rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the sea.

"Zuko, I think we have bigger problems," she said suddenly.

Zuko's eyes widened. "A blockade!" Two long lines of Fire Nation ships blocked their way of a straight path.

"Turn back now, Prince Zuko," Iroh said. "If you don't you will be captured."

"I know what I'm doing, Uncle." Iroh did not pursue the matter anymore. He knew his nephew would eventually learn from his mistakes.

Suddenly, the ships launched balls of fire into the air. They landed in the water, rocking the ship back and forth. Soldiers shouted and Dawn held onto the rail of the ship as water ran over the deck of the ship. Another one landed closely to the ship and the impact made Dawn let go of the railing, sending her overboard into the water.

_She__ was __never __a__ great __swimmer. __On __vacations __to __Ember__ Island, __she __tried __to __stay __in __the __shallow__ end,__ never __going__ above __her __knees, __and__ even __then __she __was __anxious. __She __couldn__'__t __remember __why __she __hated __the __water-__she __just __did. __Azula __made __fun __of __her __for __it __quite __a __few__ times, __and__ she __always __ran __to __her __mother __to __complain. __Her __mother __would __soothe __her __and __make __everything __better._

_But when mother left, there was no one to stop the teasing. There was Uncle Iroh, be he couldn't always be around like mother was._

_ At least they didn't go to Ember Island after mother disappeared._

Dawn's head surfaced, and she let out a mouthful of water. She was fighting to stay afloat in the choppy water. "Zuko!" She shouted. Some men had seen her fall off and pointed to her. Zuko only glanced at her once before he turned around to talk to the engine master of the ship. As the engine master talked, Zuko crossed his arms.

"Do not stop this ship!" he yelled. Another wave took Dawn under. She wasn't going to be able to keep swimming for much longer.

She resurfaced one last time before going under.

-?-

In one instant, everything was turning to black and she was sinking into the water, the next she was coughing to get water out of her lungs. She was soaking wet, and shivering uncontrollably.

"Give her room to breath," said a harsh, familiar voice. She opened her eyes only to be blinded by the bright sun. As soon as she sat up rough hands grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet. Her vision finally cleared and standing in front of her with a smirk on his face was none other than…

"Zhao," she growled before ripping her arms away from Zhao's lackeys. They moved to grab her again, but the Commander stopped them.

"It seems your brother has gone on without you. What a shame. He does realize that he is still a traitor in his own land and can be executed for coming back?" His hazel eyes held her blue ones in a stare down. Dawn eventually looked away, but only to glare at Zuko's ship receding on the horizon.

"But what do I have to do with Zuko's stupidity?" she asked, turning her attention back to Zhao.

"I will follow him, and when he has the Avatar, I'll propose a trade between you and the Avatar."

"He'll never do that. Honor is much more important to him. Besides who's to say either of you will keep your end of the bargain?"

"You're smart, Princess, I'll give you that. He turned around and started walking away. "Take her to the brig until we reach our destination." Guards reached for her arms again, and she willingly let them drag her into the hull of the ship. There wasn't a point in struggling this time- how do you run from a ship at sea without jumping overboard (and the water wasn't looking particularly inviting anyway)? Besides, what was going to be bad about spending a short amount of time in the brig?

"Keep moving!" the guard yelled at her as he pushed her. She stumbled forward and managed to catch herself before she fell to the ground.

The brig had been freezing; it was times like those where she wished she were born a fire bender. No one had bothered to give her a dry set of clothes to change into, so she sat shivering in a corner the whole time, and she could _swear_ to Angi that icicles were forming from her hair. By the time she was taken out, her whole body was numb and now it was still in the process of de-thawing as Zhao and his soldiers made their way to the sacred temple of Avatar Roku.

The temple was deserted and strangely silent when they entered. The sun was starting to set, and the light coming from torches cast strange, eerie shadows as the group walked through the maze of hallways toward the commotion going on in a lower chamber.

"Why did you help the Avatar?" Dawn heard Zuko ask.

"Because it was once the Sages' duty. It was still our duty," someone responded. At that moment Zhao chose to reveal himself and his motley crew. He clapped slowly.

"What a moving and heartfelt performance," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm certain the Fire Lord will understand when you explain why you betrayed him. No one had caught sight of Dawn yet. Some of Zhao's soldiers moved forward to grab Zuko.

"You're too late, Zhao. The Avatar's inside and the doors are sealed."

"No matter. Sooner or later, he has to come out. And you will pay the price. A soldier shoved Dawn forward and she stumbled, landing hard on her knees. She bit back a cry of pain.

"Zuko, don't listen to a word he says," she said rapidly. "It's a trap-"

"Silence!" Zhao yelled. "We will wait." And so everyone looked toward the door, waiting to see what would happen next.

In the next few minutes, the light behind the door faded and Zhao and his men moved into position. "When those doors open, unleash all your fire bending power," the Commander commanded. She heard furtive whispering off to her right. She glanced to see her Water Tribe look-alike and the rest of the Avatar's allies talking amongst themselves. At one instance, they all stared at her and she looked away, staring at the doors with extreme concentration.

Suddenly, they began to open, and smoke started pouring out. Through the smoke, two glowing eyes could be seen. A bunch of people all yelled at once and Zhao's group shot fire at the advancing figure in the smoke. However, instead of shooting straight through the figure, the fire stopped and was manipulated into a giant ball of fire. A hole started to form in the middle of the swirling orb, and the face of Avatar _Roku_ appeared before everyone in the room. Several gasped or gave shocked looks.

The Avatar pushed the fire forward, knocking down Zhao and his shoulders. The temple started to rumble. Columns started to break and collapse. In the chaos, Zuko ran to her and undid her bonds. _Glad__ to __know__ you __care_, she thought.

"Avatar Roku's doing to destroy the temple! We have to get out of here!" One of the Sages yelled. Dawn saw Zuko's conflicted, pained look. He wanted to stay and capture the Avatar.

"Zuko, let's go." She tugged on his hand. Surprisingly, it didn't take that much convincing to get him moving. They both ran to the safety of the ship.

It probably wasn't a good idea to build a temple on a _volcano_.

_Oh __well_, she thought as she leaned on the railing of the ship's deck. _At __least __it__ makes __a__ pretty __light __show_. And she stared at it until the ruined temple was only a tiny speck in the distance.

**~Larcian**


	6. Chapter 6

_Pfft: "Update soon!" Is over a year soon enough?_

_Okay, guys, before you come tearing into my house with those pitchforks and torches, I have legitimate reasons. Kinda._

_You see, after the last chapter, I realized I needed to reevaluate the plot and figure out how to make this chapter work the way it did. Apparently that took over a year to figure out. Fun fact, I actually finished this chapter over the summer, but school is hectic and I didn't get to post it until now! k;lajsl I'm so sorry... I can't guarantee when the next one will be up, but please be content with this chapter for now! :)_

_~Larcian_

**Chapter Six**

Dawn reclined on the deck of the ship as Zuko and a few other crewmembers sparred. It was quite relaxing- a bit stressful because they haven't had sign of the Avatar for a few weeks, but overall relaxing. She was especially happy when the sling came off. The ship doctor said she shouldn't try shooting her bow for a few more days, though.

The ship suddenly veered starboard, knocking anyone standing off balance, and Dawn into a few crates. She saw an enraged Zuko let out a blast of fire as he got up. "Someone's changing our course!" He shouted as he stormed up to the bridge. Dawn followed behind and got there just in time to hear:

"Is it something to do with the Avatar?" Dawn rolled her eyes. It always had to do with the Avatar with Zuko.

"Even more urgent," Iroh said." "It seems I've lost my lotus tile."

"A lotus tile?" Dawn asked as she slipped into the room. "For your Pai Sho game?"

"Yes, Dawn, it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ." He held a twinkle in his eyes as he said that. Dawn raised her eyebrows, but her Uncle said nothing more on the subject.

"You're changing our course for a stupid lotus tile!?" With much convincing, Iroh got her brother to stop and check the merchant shops at the next port town.

"I'm glad I have such an understanding nephew," Iroh smiled wide. Zuko just stormed out and barked at his sparring partners to continue the drills.

Dawn stifled a laugh at Zuko as she followed a bit behind him and Iroh. The banished Prince was about ready to explode. Iroh, most likely very aware of his nephew, did not let this bad mood damper his spirits. Iroh had not been able to find the tile, but let's just say he did buy other… things.

"You bought a sumki horn?" Zuko asked in rage.

"For music night on the ship," Iroh explained. "Now if only we had some woodwinds…" He walked a bit of ways from the Fire Nation ship. "This looks promising!" He ran toward another ship, in which a man was shouting out his wares. Zuko and Dawn followed after him. Inside, Iroh was already eyeing a ruby-eyed monkey statue. Zuko waiting in a corner while Dawn also browsed the wares just for fun. Well, it was fun until strong arms grabbed her and a cold blade was pressed at her throat.

"You may have changed clothes," said one of the shop owners, "but you don't fool me. You have a lot of gall to show up here again, Missy."

"What are you talking about? Let me go!" she said, struggling to hit him. He was too strong.

"Now, now, just give me the scroll you stole and I'll let you go. However, if you're not willing for that, I'm sure we can scrounge up some other sort of deal…" He laughed.

"Zuko!" she shouted. In an instant, fire blasted in her general direction, and the man let her go in order to dodge the fire. Dawn knocked over a vase as she landed on the ground.

"What is going on here?" said the man who looked like he was the head honcho of the place. "Why are you wrecking my shop?" With a look of indignation that only a Fire Nation Princess could give, Dawn spoke coldly.

"This peasant here claims I stole a scroll and acts as if he's seen me before, when I have never stepped foot inside this ship before, nor have I ever had the intention of hanging around people such as him!" She got up and brushed off her clothes.

"Captain," the other man said, "this is clearly the girl from earlier with different clothes on. The one with the little bald monk that got away with our waterbending scroll." Zuko's ears suddenly perked up, and he no longer cared about the danger his sister was just in.

"This monk," Zuko said, "did he have an arrow on his head?"

Dawn muttered to herself as she packed stuff into a small sack. The plan that she had told Zuko weeks ago was finally going into action.

After explaining the situation to the pirates, they all agreed to work together in order to get what they wanted. This included finding Water Tribe clothes for Dawn to wear so she could switch places with her doppelganger, Katara. Why did they look so much alike, anyway? Dawn was of Fire Nation descent- nobility at that- while this girl was just a lowly peasant.

Dawn finished packing the sack as Iroh knocked on the door. She softly told him to come in as she moved toward the mirror to fix her hair.

"You don't have to do this," Iroh told her when she finished making her hair loopies. She stared at herself in the mirror. A pair of blue eyes stared at her from her olive complexion and heart-shaped face. Sure, she didn't look like the typical Fire Nation person, but it wasn't like the whole nation was extremely pale and gold-eyed (that just seemed to be a trend with the nobility). No one at home ever questioned her appearance anyway, except for Azula on occasion, who did it just to tease her.

"I have to, Uncle," she said. "It's our only hope of capturing the Avatar."

"You look just like her," Iroh said, changing the topic as he put his hands on her shoulders.

"If anything, Uncle, this peasant looks like _me_." She took off her necklace and bracelet and placed them on the desk. "I'm ready."

"Good luck, Dawn."

Dawn and Zuko watched from the bushes as Katara practiced her waterbending by the river. At any moment now, Zuko's ship would distract her, the pirates would storm out and take her away, giving Dawn enough time to switch in and act as if nothing had ever happened. Then, she would sneak back to the camp and be captured along with the other two in the morning. They would make a trade with the girl in order to get the Avatar, and they were on their way home.

Zuko ran out after a pirate had distracted Katara. He tied her to a tree and taunted her with her necklace that they had found back on a Fire Nation prison where they used to keep earthbenders.

"Tell me where he is," Zuko said.

"No!" Katara snapped. Dawn had to admit she was very strong-willed.

"Perhaps I could be of assistance?" Dawn asked as she stepped out of the bushes, standing in front of Katara with her hands on her hips. The Water Tribe girl's mouth dropped. It was like she was staring at herself.

"Dawn, you and the pirates search the woods for the boy and then meet me back here. You know the plan." Dawn nodded and walked off with a group of pirates- none that she was eager to be with. She kept her eyes on them the whole time, a few daggers at ready if needed.

Finally, as dawn began to break over the horizon, they came across the campsite. Dawn motioned for the pirates to stay back while she got set up in the sleeping bag. It was just in time too, because the Water Tribe boy began to wake up. From half-closed lids, she watched him sweep his eyes across the camp, and then dig through a bag for food. One of the pirates in the woods threw a sling at him and his hands were immediately tied together. This woke up the Avatar, and after a few moments Dawn feigned waking up as well before a net engulfed her and started dragging her off. A third net engulfed Sokka and off they went toward the rendezvous point.

_Note to self,_ Dawn thought when they stopped, _never have stupid ideas like this again_. She had known that she wasn't going to be treated like anything special as per the mission, but she didn't think that they would ruthlessly drag her over every rock and rut in the forest path.

The three were tied to the tree as Zuko came out. Katara had most likely been put in the ship so as not to reveal the plan.

"Nice work," the Prince said to the pirates.

"Aang," Dawn said, playing her part, "this is all my fault." Unlike last time she tried to emulate the Water Tribe girl, she didn't have to change her voice at all.

It was eerie how the two also sounded alike.

"No, Katara, it's not your fault," the young Avatar said with his head hanging low.

"Yeah, it kinda is," Iroh said, unnatural and strangely. Zuko elbowed him to shut up.

"Give me the boy," Zuko said, holding the scroll in his hand.

"You give us the scroll," the pirate captain said. Zuko narrowed his eyes and walked forward to intimidate the captain when Sokka shouted out beside her.

"You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?!" the teenager yelled. The pirate captain's ear perked up at the word 'Avatar.' The kid did have a point…

Convinced they would get much more for handing over the Avatar to the Fire Lord than selling a stupid scroll, the pirates negated the deal. Zuko and his guards unleashed fire unto them and a battle ensued. The moment the battlefield became hazy with smoke, Dawn cut her ropes and ran.

"Katara, where did you go?" She heard Sokka shout over the clanging of weapons against armor.

"Over here!" She called. A sword swooped overhead and she ducked and kicked the assailant, moving on once he fell.

"Where? I can't find you!"

"I got it!" Aang called. Immediately, the smoke was gone and everyone stopped fighting to stare at the young boy. This gave Dawn a chance the survey the area and find the nearest escape. The smoke became dense again and Dawn rolled to dodge a flying dagger. Once out of the smoke, she ran toward the beach where she saw the real Katara escaping from the depths of Zuko's ship. The two froze and stared at each other for a split moment before Dawn threw a dagger aimed for the girl's leg. The waterbender dodged and countered with a splash that knocked Dawn to the ground. By the time Dawn regained her senses, the Avatar and the siblings were already rushing onto the deck the pirates' ship. Grabbing her dagger from the lapping waves of the river, she rushed into the water to chase after the ship. Luckily the water was only thigh-deep and eventually- but not as fast as she would have liked- she was climbing up a rope ladder leading to the deck, near the wheel. Sokka was trying his best to control the ship, but it was very clear that he had no idea what he was doing.

Dawn only had slightly a better idea of the mechanics of the ship, but that wasn't stopping her from turning the ship around. Before anyone could notice, Dawn ran forward and knocked Sokka aside, continuing to pound him until she managed to kick him over the railings of the ship. Luckily, the fight hadn't made too much noise, as Katara and the Avatar were too busy waterbending to make the ship move along a bit faster than Zuko's ship, which Dawn had noticed the pirates hijacked and were now following. But pirates weren't going to stop her. She gave the wheel a sharp turn to the right and the ship veered dangerously, almost tipping in the process.

"Sokka, what are you doing?!" The Avatar yelled, turning toward where Sokka was supposed to be. Upon seeing Dawn, he jumped up in the air and bared his staff, instigating a fight. The former princess smirked as she turned the wheel back to its original position and pressed a button that she hoped would belong to the mechanisms of the ship that brought out the automatic paddles that allowed the ship to go upstream. It did.

"I don't want to hurt you," the boy said as she did this, "but you need to turn the ship around."

"Why? That would be _helping_ you." Before Aang could open his mouth to answer, a horrid sound that could only be described as the combination of snapping wood and scraping metal occurred. A round of cheers went up and the three occupants of the ship turned their heads to see the pirates jumping from Zuko's ship to theirs. Both ships continued on their course downstream. Aang flew down to help Katara and Dawn stood there, deciding not to take her chances against the mob of pirates. But after a few moments of observing the mess from above, something smacked against her head. She turned around to see that Sokka had survived his fall and had never actually taken a dunk in the water, much to her dismay. Dawn glared at him. She did _not _need any more injuries.

"You know, when I kicked you off, the idea was for you to _stay off_." She pulled out a dagger and tossed one at him, which he deflected with his boomerang, picking it up and throwing it into the river. "Agni…" she muttered under her breath. Throwing sharp objects at him obviously wasn't going to work if she was just going to lose them in the river. To prove her point, she threw another one at him, which Sokka just sidestepped and Dawn watched it sail in the river. Where was Mai when you needed her?

So Dawn turned and ran down the stairs leading to the main deck, dodging under a pirate's blade as he swung it, and continued into the heat of the battle. Looking back, she saw that Sokka had started to fight with the pirate she just ran away from. Climbing up the mast a bit, so she could stay clear of the battle, she surveyed the situation. Everyone was locked into battle- even the Avatar's pet and the pirates' parrot-, they were heading toward a waterfall. There was no way to capture the Avatar. So, being the tactical person she had been raised to be, she climbed down and ran for Zuko's ship. No one noticed her this time as she jumped the railing. She estimated she had roughly a minute before both ships would go over, so Dawn ran to the control room. Thankfully she was more familiar with this one- not to mention that it wasn't just a wheel with a lock and a button- and she managed to stall the ship long enough so that it stayed almost completely still in the water as she watched the other ship go over the waterfall. She looked on, hoping that maybe the Avatar would have been knocked out and the Fire Nation teens could go collect him, but it was a pretty far-off hope, considering she saw the Avatar's bison swoop down and save the three kids. _Shame_, she thought as they flew away. Turning the boat around, she began to head upstream when she saw Zuko, her Uncle, and the rest of the crew. With the help of a few crewmembers that climbed on board, they docked the ship and Dawn got off to report to Zuko.

"I was this close," she said to Zuko, holding two of her fingers a very tiny space apart. He opened his mouth, about to start an argument with her, when Uncle Iroh spoke.

"Hehe, you two are really going to get a kick out of this." From his sleeves he procured a tile. "The missing lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!" He smiled wide and Dawn had to laugh. Zuko, however, was not amused. He took the tile and threw it as far as he could, hitting the head of one of the defeated pirates.

"That's alright," Iroh said. "I always carry a spare!" He was smart enough not to procure it, if he had it on him. Zuko just stormed toward his ship, Dawn following closely behind with a smirk on her face

**-The Gaang-**

Sokka sat with a smirk on his face as he gloated in the victory knowing that he had won a fight against Katara-, which was hard to do because she insisted she was always right. However, even though there was peace between all, Aang slumped in the saddle with a sulk on his face. Katara soon noticed and she called out to the young airbender.

"Aang, are you alright?" At first, he didn't respond, but eventually he patted Appa's neck and turned to face the two siblings.

"Katara, I'm sorry that I couldn't save you. If I had noticed earlier that that girl was posing as you, we probably wouldn't have-"

"Aang, it's not your fault," Katara interrupted. "We do look eerily similar." Suddenly, Sokka had an idea.

"Guys! What if the Fire Nation has the technology to clone people! It would be the ultimate weapon to turn people against each other and rip apart the other nations and all the Fire Nation has to do is sit there and laugh at us!"

"…"

"It seemed good before I said it." Katara shook her head at her brother and turned back to Aang.

"We do look similar… but she also looks somewhat familiar-"

"Have you seen your reflection?"

"Sokka, I'm talking!" After Sokka held his hands up in defense, Katara continued. "I'm talking about how I feel like I know her- like I _should_ know her."

This time, Sokka offered genuine advice. "Maybe she's the daughter of one of the guys that invaded when Mom… you know…"

"Yeah… But it still doesn't explain why we look alike…"

"But let's not worry about that now!" Aang piped up. "Let's concentrate on heading to the Northern Water Tribe!" The two siblings agreed, and the situation of the mysterious girl with Zuko was filed into the back of their minds as they laughed and carried on about other matters.

**_Read and review please!_**


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